By: Sarah Harland and Kira Egan THE GREAT GATSBY WIKI
The American dream is having the freedom to be who you want to be and succeed in your passion throughout life. Nick’s father gives him advice that connects to the American Dream: “just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.” (1) Nick gets many opportunities because he lives in America. He probably wouldn’t get them if he lived somewhere else. Gatsby has many opportunities in America also. Gatsby represents this dream because even though there are rumors going around about him, he doesn't really pay attention to them and he continues to live his life. He is very successful in his life, despite having no family and he lives a very comfortable life. “Americans, while occasionally willing to be serfs, have always been obstinate about being peasantry.” (88) Gatsby was not always rich but he gained money by using the American dream. The American dream has not really changed since Gatsby's time. The main idea is the same but the means of achieving that dream have changed. People could be more passionate about buying something than going to college or something like that but they still are being passionate about something and are being who they want to be.
The meaning of the title is its saying that Gatsby is mysterious and legendary during this time. Gatsby is great because he has accomplished so much in his life time: “Jimmy was bound to get ahead. He always had some resolves like this or something. Do you notice what he’s got about improving his mind?” “He was always great for that. He told me I et like a hog once, and I beat him for it.” (173) Gatsby’s dad is realizing how accomplished Gatsby had become, which makes him great. He worked hard and in return became great. He lost contact with his dad and now that he is dead, his dad is back and is realizing how great he is. Gatsby had lost contact with his family, causing himself to figure things out for himself: “The truth was that Jay Gatsby, of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself. He was a son of God—a phrase which, if it means anything, means just that—and he must be about His Father’s business, the service of a vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty. So he invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen year old boy would be likely to invent, and to this conception he was faithful to the end.” (98)
The Great Gatsby is full of evidence that it was part of the Jazz age. There was smoking, drinking, dancing, and music. Gatsby threw elaborate parties and many people always came: “He’s a bootlegger,” said the young ladies, moving somewhere between his cocktails and his flowers.” (61) Rumors were going around about Gatsby and one was that he was a bootlegger. This was understandable during the Jazz age because of prohibition. Most of the characters in this book really liked to party. They had alcohol very often during the book: “Tom brought out a bottle of whiskey from a locked bureau door.”(29) Alcohol might have been a kind of comfort to them that when they were in awkward situations, they could just rely on the alcohol. They also liked to smoke during this time. Whenever they needed something to do, they would smoke: “…then there were no cigarettes, and I went out to buy some at the drug-store on the corner.” (29) They spent so much time smoking that they ran out of cigarettes. This shows how popular smoking was during the Jazz age.
Gatsby is trying to recapture a time that he is not as lonely. He is successful because he ends up getting Daisy back, for a little while, and he makes a friend of Nick. Many people know of him and his parties, but they are not considered friends: “I believe that on the first night I went to Gatsby's house I was one of the few guests who had actually been invited. People were not invited - they went there.” (41) He didn’t invite these people but they came anyway. None of them would have gone to his funeral, so they are not really friends. Although he got a couple of friends, he did not become "popular" but he was not as lonely as before. He probably could have had Daisy completely if he had not built up his expectations of her: “There must have been moments even that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams - not through her own fault but because of the colossal vitality of his illusion. It had gone beyond her, beyond everything. He had thrown himself into it with a creative passion.” (95) It would be hard to get friends if you made your expectations into impossibilities. This is probably one of the reasons that Gatsby has a hard time making friends. He builds up the idea of having friends that no person could possibly live up to what he is expecting. If I could go back in time, I would like to revisit the days of elementary school because it was a simpler time and you didn't have to be concerned with anything.
THE GREAT GATSBY WIKI
The American dream is having the freedom to be who you want to be and succeed in your passion throughout life. Nick’s father gives him advice that connects to the American Dream: “just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.” (1) Nick gets many opportunities because he lives in America. He probably wouldn’t get them if he lived somewhere else. Gatsby has many opportunities in America also. Gatsby represents this dream because even though there are rumors going around about him, he doesn't really pay attention to them and he continues to live his life. He is very successful in his life, despite having no family and he lives a very comfortable life. “Americans, while occasionally willing to be serfs, have always been obstinate about being peasantry.” (88) Gatsby was not always rich but he gained money by using the American dream. The American dream has not really changed since Gatsby's time. The main idea is the same but the means of achieving that dream have changed. People could be more passionate about buying something than going to college or something like that but they still are being passionate about something and are being who they want to be.
The Great Gatsby is full of evidence that it was part of the Jazz age. There was smoking, drinking, dancing, and music. Gatsby threw elaborate parties and many people always came: “He’s a bootlegger,” said the young ladies, moving somewhere between his cocktails and his flowers.” (61) Rumors were going around about Gatsby and one was that he was a bootlegger. This was understandable during the Jazz age because of prohibition. Most of the characters in this book really liked to party. They had alcohol very often during the book: “Tom brought out a bottle of whiskey from a locked bureau door.”(29) Alcohol might have been a kind of comfort to them that when they were in awkward situations, they could just rely on the alcohol. They also liked to smoke during this time. Whenever they needed something to do, they would smoke: “…then there were no cigarettes, and I went out to buy some at the drug-store on the corner.” (29) They spent so much time smoking that they ran out of cigarettes. This shows how popular smoking was during the Jazz age.
Gatsby is trying to recapture a time that he is not as lonely. He is successful because he ends up getting Daisy back, for a little while, and he makes a friend of Nick. Many people know of him and his parties, but they are not considered friends: “I believe that on the first night I went to Gatsby's house I was one of the few guests who had actually been invited. People were not invited - they went there.” (41) He didn’t invite these people but they came anyway. None of them would have gone to his funeral, so they are not really friends. Although he got a couple of friends, he did not become "popular" but he was not as lonely as before. He probably could have had Daisy completely if he had not built up his expectations of her: “There must have been moments even that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams - not through her own fault but because of the colossal vitality of his illusion. It had gone beyond her, beyond everything. He had thrown himself into it with a creative passion.” (95) It would be hard to get friends if you made your expectations into impossibilities. This is probably one of the reasons that Gatsby has a hard time making friends. He builds up the idea of having friends that no person could possibly live up to what he is expecting. If I could go back in time, I would like to revisit the days of elementary school because it was a simpler time and you didn't have to be concerned with anything.
Works Cited:
1. Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner, 2004. Print.
2. 17 March 2010. The Great Gatsby of Many Eras. <http://bioinfo.mbb.yale.edu/~mbg/dom/fun3/great-gatsby/im.jpg>
3. 17 March 2010. Music in the 1920's. <http://classiccrooners.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/1920s-radio.jpg>
4. 17 March 2010. SodaHead. <https://fosterhoneng11fourthblock.wikispaces.com/file/view/dancing.jpg/31936463/dancing.jpg>
5. 17 March 2010. Russian Wives. <http://www.red-october.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/american-dream2.jpg>
6. 17 March 2010. The Journal of All Items Various and Sundry.<http://robertarood.files.wordpress.com/2008/01/gatsby-stamp.jpg>